A Room With More-than-one View: Fourteen30

I walk into Fourteen30 Contemporary, and everything fits: the high ceiling, white walls, paintings, braided hair strung from the floor to ceiling. I won’t mention how much the braided hair costs, you have to experience the gallery for what it is: a staging ground for emerging artists. “It’s intimidating at first,” gallery owner Jeanine Jablonski says, “with contemporary art there’s such a long history involved. It’s so all over the map, that people do need a little guidance as to who is a good investment.” Jablonski’s gallery, Fourteen30 Contemporary, is in SE Portland at 1430 SE 3rd Avenue.

A new show opened Friday January 23rd featuring Portland-based artist Jessie Durost and John Sisley from L.A. “I am really grabbing artists at the early stages in their career so that people are able to buy — whereas ten years from now a lot of these artists will be at a higher price range and won’t be as accessible.” Durost’s small architectural sculptures — cubes and grids poised in delicate and formal compositions — hang alongside Sisley’s high-resolution digital prints fragmented from an archive of photos and recontextualized.

“I think it’s really important for people to think about the fact that there is an art market. Unlike your sofa — unless you’re looking at a piece of Danish modern furniture — you can look at as an investment, and hopefully over time — depending on what you buy and when you buy, it will increase in value … somebody who’s a very avid collector, that’s something they absolutely think about.” If you’re looking to add more art to your life, Jablonski is a knowledgeable young gallerist eager to define the new market with engaging shows by “people that haven’t had that first solo show”. Fourteen30 Contemporary is a launch pad for new generation artists.

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Arthur Smid writes about events and people in Portland. If you have a story to tell, or a new business you want people to hear about — even if you just want someone to listen — please contact me: smidarthur (at) gmail.com